Study of the gut microbiome in Egyptian patients with active ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by chronic, uncontrolled inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. Gut microbiota dysbiosis was reported to be a factor in intestinal inflammation. The aim of the present study was to study changes in the gut microbiome in Egyptian patients with active UC. In this cross-sectional study, the gut bacterial microbiome of 21 UC patients and 20 control subjects was analyzed using the quantitative SYBR Green real-time PCR technique, targeting the 16S rRNA gene of selected bacterial phyla/genera and/or species. UC patients showed marked dysbiosis evidenced by a significant decrease in the Firmicutes and F. prausnitzii anti-inflammatory bacteria. The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio was also lower in the UC cases (1.65), compared with the healthy controls (2.93). In addition, the UC cases showed a statistically significant decrease in Ruminococcus, compared with the control group. However, there were no statistically significant differences between UC patients and the controls, regarding A. muciniphila, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides, and Prevotella. One UC case was positive for the pathogenic bacterium, Clostridioides difficile, with low relative abundance. The current study showed differences in the gut microbiome of UC patients, compared with healthy controls. This may help in identifying the gut microbiome and specific bacterial changes that can be targeted for treatment of UC. La colitis ulcerosa crónica idiopática (CUCI) se caracteriza por una inflamación crónica e incontrolada de la mucosa intestinal. Se ha informado que la disbiosis del microbioma intestinal es un factor de inflamación intestinal. El objetivo del presente estudio fue estudiar los cambios en el microbioma intestinal en pacientes egipcios con CUCI activa. En este estudio transversal, se analizó el microbioma intestinal de 21 pacientes con CUCI y 20 sujetos como grupo de control mediante la técnica de PCR cuantitativa SYBR Green en tiempo real dirigida al ARNr 16S de filos/géneros y/o especies bacterianas seleccionadas. Los pacientes con CUCI mostraron una marcada disbiosis evidenciada por una disminución significativa de las bacterias antiinflamatorias Firmicutes y F. prausnitzii. La relación Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes también fue menor en los casos de CUCI (1,65), en comparación con los controles sanos (2,93). Además, los casos de CUCI mostraron una disminución estadísticamente significativa en Ruminococcus en comparación con el grupo de contro